The Last Cherry Blossom
by silverfox7726
Summary: Summary: The Cherry Blossom of team seven is slowly wilting away. Haruno Sakura is finally giving up to her illness and has lost hope in living that she had based the last of her remaining days on the cherry blossom tree that grew near the hospital. But t


The Last Cherry Blossom  
  
Warning: I do not own Naruto. But I hope that I can own my favorites' hearts someday...  
  
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Summary: The Cherry Blossom of team seven is slowly wilting away. Haruno Sakura is finally giving up to her illness and has lost hope in living that she had based the last of her remaining days on the cherry blossom tree that grew near the hospital. But the people around her are not ready to let her go, and her best friend will do every damned thing to save her. Based on O. Henry's beautiful masterpiece, "The Last Leaf".  
  
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This is for Hikari, my dear Sakura, and Maki, our secret Sasuke.  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Naruto can clearly remember how it all happened that day that Orochimaru attacked the Hokage of the Village of Konoha.  
  
He sighed.  
  
He then peeked inside the room and saw her sleeping soundly.  
  
He sighed again as he closed the door quietly.  
  
"Are you sure there is no other way, Sir Kakashi? Sakura is a strong girl! I know she can..."  
  
"All she wants now is to die, Naruto. We can make her well with the medicine, but if she has nothing to live for... then..."  
  
"...No... No... Not Sakura..." he said like he was about to cry.  
  
"Naruto." Sasuke said.  
  
Naruto looked up at Sasuke. "Don't give us another person to take care of. Sakura waning away is enough for all of us to handle." He told Naruto. He then turned to Kakashi. "Thank you for visiting us, Sir. I hope you would catch her awake next time you visit."  
  
Kakashi waved. "Sasuke... Naruto..."  
  
He stared at the two for quite a while. "I'm counting on you."  
  
The two nodded. Kakashi disappeared in a puff on gray smoke.  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"...Hmn..." Sakura groaned.  
  
Naruto wiped away imaginary tears that he thought fell on his face. He then revealed himself from the door with a big smile beaming on his face.  
  
"Ohayou, Sakura!" he greeted warmly.  
  
His baby blue eyes began to run all over the girl on the bed, staring at her image until he got his butt fixed on the chair beside her. He almost thought that he could not back the tears anymore as Sir Kakashi's words reverberated in his head.  
  
The frail body of the genki girl he still loves has now lost all its glory. Her beautiful pink hair that would dance with the wind has lost its luster and charm and is turned into a lifeless limp on top of her head. The radiant smile she gladly wore is now decreased into one that is forced just to tell him in a silent communication that she's all right.  
  
Naruto was overwhelmed with pity for the poor girl's condition that the tears felt like they already had fallen when not a drop was lost to the wind.  
  
"Are you hungry?"  
  
The girl shrugged with a smile. "Maybe later I'll get my appetite."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Sir Kakashi came over earlier to visit you..."  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Sasuke!!" a familiar voice screamed at him as he walked out of Konoha Hospital.  
  
"Lee."  
  
"Is Sakura up?"  
  
Sasuke nodded.  
  
"Great! See yah later Sasuke!"  
  
Sasuke watched as Lee applied another thick coat of gel on his coconut shaped hair and dust his green dress from any void that had stuck to him on the way. Clearing his throat, Lee entered the hospital, leaving Sasuke at the door.  
  
He looked up and stared at her window for some time.  
  
Memories came to view.  
  
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He remembered how it all happened. How couldn't he? He was watching everything all the while...  
  
"Haruno Sakura." The snake said with an irritating stress on his 's'. "Where are your friends? You know that you will never beat me all by yourself."  
  
"Stop punishing Sasuke, Orochimaru!"  
  
"Punishing? You mean, this?"  
  
He was aware of his whole body moving. Aware that the curse had spread through out his entire body. Aware of the demon taking over. Aware that it was attacking Sakura.  
  
Yet he can do nothing to stop it.  
  
Then Orochimaru spotted a hidden target.  
  
Sasuke quickly swiveled to the direction, barely touching Sakura by about a few inches.  
  
They all heard a familiar scream.  
  
"INOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sakura exclaimed.  
  
Orochimaru grinned.  
  
"It will not take him long. For only a few minutes, you not only lost the one you love, but also your best friend..."  
  
"No..."  
  
She wanted to help Ino, but she hesitate leaving the more lethal Orochimaru.  
  
"I know how much you feel for my protégée..."  
  
She frowned at him.  
  
"So I'll offer you a bargain."  
  
She held the kunai tighter. "What bargain?"  
  
"Your soul... for Sasuke's liberation from the curse..."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Deal."  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ino had tripped and fell onto the ground. He felt his body move forward and he saw the horror in her eyes.  
  
She is screaming his name.  
  
He could not answer.  
  
When suddenly, something unexpected happened.  
  
Sasuke's body stopped. He stood paralyzed for some time. He felt the curse retreat back into his neck.  
  
And to his surprise, the curse disappeared.  
  
He blinked for a few seconds and found that he had regained control over his body.  
  
"Oh shit!" he swore. "Sakura..."  
  
Ino felt nervous. "...No..."  
  
"SAKURA!!!!!!!!!!!" they both yelled as they ran back to where they had left.  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
He opened his eyes.  
  
Yes. It was that incident why everything is what it is now.  
  
They were too late when they found Sakura. She was feverish and they rushed her to the hospital.  
  
Her fever had left her days ago, but it had left her to nothing.  
  
Sir Kakashi explained everything to them earlier. Sakura has sacrificed her own soul for him and Ino. Orochimaru had indeed lifted his curse, but left them with something far more worst. She lived each day with no intention of living tomorrow. She became a hollow stump, wanting to die more than anything else.  
  
Naruto felt like it was him who shouldered most of the problems. He was greatly affected, with his love for the pink haired girl that lay on her deathbed.  
  
But shouldering an ailing conscience is far more depressing.  
  
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"Sakura!" Lee said cheerfully, handing her the flowers he had at hand.  
  
The girl gladly took them and placed them on her blanket.  
  
"Lee! You're back again."  
  
"Of course! I would not want to leave you all alone with her!"  
  
"What do you think of me? A pervert?!"  
  
"Well you're the one with two of those for senseis!"  
  
They wouldn't have stopped arguing, if not for Sakura who suddenly spoke.  
  
"...Flowers... beautiful flowers... a blooming flower bud..." she mumbled.  
  
She then looked up to the two guys before her. "... Cosmos... Where is she?... Why doesn't Ino visit me?..."  
  
They looked at each other with solemn eyes, not knowing what to tell the delicate girl.  
  
"Does she still care about me?..."  
  
It was Lee who spoke out.  
  
"She said to give these to you... She's... very busy... with the flower shop and all the missions, you know..."  
  
It was a lie. Nobody knows where Ino had gone to since Orochimaru gave her the curse. For all they know, she was hunting down the demon to demand her best friend's health.  
  
Sakura looked outside the window. "I wish she'd visit me soon... I may not last long enough... I might be wilted by the time she comes..."  
  
They knew what she meant by "wilt".  
  
"What are you saying, Sakura? Don't talk like that... You're making us nervous..." Naruto butted in. His voice was as shaky as Lee's.  
  
"But it is true..." she mumbled to herself. "The flower buds..."  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sasuke sat by the riverbanks, contemplating on what he will do to shut his conscience up.  
  
When he suddenly noticed a girl sitting across the river with her head tucked between her knees and staring at the green grass beneath her. He recognized who it was.  
  
"Ino."  
  
She lifted her head up and saw him. "Sasuke?"  
  
"She needs you, Ino."  
  
"I can't face her. I promised her that I'll cure her... I don't like breaking my promises."  
  
"I know. But hunting for Orochimaru is like looking for a needle in a haystack..."  
  
"But..."  
  
"We are losing her, Ino... Give her something she'll want to live for..."  
  
She turned to face him.  
  
Sasuke has disappeared.  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sakura has just finished eating and Naruto had taken the liberty to take the dishes out. Lee had left earlier before he came back to the hospital. And he caught her doing something peculiar.  
  
She was smiling very happily while counting.  
  
"Seven."  
  
Sasuke entered the room. Sakura did not flinch.  
  
"What is it, Sakura?"  
  
"Six." Sakura said, almost inaudible for a whisper. "They're falling down much faster now. Days ago, they were almost a hundred that I have a hard time counting them. Now it's easy. Look! There goes another one! There are only five of them left now..."  
  
"Five what?"  
  
"The cherry blossoms. On the tree. When the last one of those five blossoms falls, I must go too. I've known that days ago. Didn't Sir Kakashi tell you?"  
  
Sasuke was dumbstruck at what he had heard.  
  
"The last blossom is still a flower bud. But it wouldn't be long now before it blossoms. Just enough time for me to see Ino and all of you before I go."  
  
He tried to hide his pity. "You are talking so much nonsense. Go to sleep. You are just tired." He told her softly while tucking her in.  
  
He did not leave her side until she was fast asleep. After making sure she was alright, he stood and went up to the window.  
  
The last cherry blossom is going to bloom soon enough.  
  
He shut out the curtains, hoping that he was able to shut away her illusions with it.  
  
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The last remnants of that day were all about her questions of Ino's whereabouts.  
  
"I need to see her. The last blossom is going to open tomorrow..."  
  
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Early the next morning, she demanded to her friends to open the window.  
  
"Open it for me! I need to see the blossom..."  
  
Though fearful of the aftermath, it was only Naruto who had the courage to remove the curtains.  
  
To their surprise, they saw the cherry blossom still unopened.  
  
Silence.  
  
"Naruto..."  
  
The blonde guy turned.  
  
"Sasuke..."  
  
The ebony haired guy turned to her.  
  
"Sir Kakashi..."  
  
The sensei looked at her with both eyes.  
  
"I was a burden to all of you. Something has made that last cherry blossom stay unopened on that branch to show me how sick I really am... But I think that this time... I'm cured."  
  
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It only took them a day till the old Sakura they love has returned to her normal mood. She was cheerful and had been so energetic all day that the Konoha Hospital staff told them that by tomorrow, she's well enough to go home.  
  
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That afternoon, Sasuke came in to give her the soup she had asked for. While she ate heartily, Sasuke went up to the window and saw the unopened cherry blossom.  
  
"I have something to tell you."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I found Ino."  
  
"Great! Where is she?! I want to see her!"  
  
"You can't. She's in the other ward, resting."  
  
"Resting? But why? What happened to her? "  
  
"I found her this morning, lying limp beneath the cherry tree and feverish. She was wet with perspiration from head to toe, and there was blood trickling from her mouth. No one ever knew what kind of opponent she has met up on the way and she looked too dreadful to be your best friend..."  
  
"Oh no..."  
  
"...Do you know why the cherry blossom never opened?..."  
  
She shrugged.  
  
"...That is Ino's love for you, Sakura. You see, she stole an ancient scroll and turned back the time around the flower that night the last cherry blossom bloomed..."  
  
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Later that day, someone picked the last cherry blossom from the tree. It was later found in Ino Yamanaka's room, on a beautiful vase. In a attractive flower arrangement, the cosmos and the cherry blossom fit together in a bizarre way. But shortly after it was placed, the cherry blossom finally bloomed, and the vase was miraculously filled with different kinds of blossoms! And yet there was no one coming in to put them there!  
  
"...Thank you..." the girl said before leaving Ino Yamanaka's room.  
  
In her sleep Ino smiled.  
  
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Owari.  
  
4/30/2004  
  
Author's Note:  
  
The ancient scroll that Ino stole contains the forbidden spell of time binding. It will take most of the chakra of the user and if not strong enough, it will cause death. It is used for casting time spells in order to stop, quicken or return time. But is forbidden due to it's harmful effects.  
  
This is my first Naruto fan fiction. It was the only one shot that I was able to finish in one sitting. 


End file.
